Start Up Advice - Franchise?

[startup100]

My husband & I have an idea for a new start up business which we feel has great potential but just don't have the financial resources to do alone.

But given the nature of the business we feel that there may be some bigger companies who may be interested in getting on board.

How do we go about approaching big companies and selling them our idea? Ideally we want them to support/fund part of the business and in turn we would sell their product and would prefer not to get into a full franchise - it would essentially be our business to run how we see fit.

Also i know it sounds silly but how do we ensure they dont "steal" our idea?

What info would they require eg business plans etc?

 

[Bobadob]

Hey, i have been reading about start up loans this morning. google star up loans and the government have made a stack of money available as a loan to get businesses started.
worth checking out

 

[kyle 2013]

Regarding business protection getting the third party to sign an NDA ( Non-Discloser Agreement ) is never a bad thing to do as this gives your product/business a certain amount of protection and ensures your business details are kept confidential between you and who ever is interested in your idea.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Regarding business protection getting the third party to sign an NDA ( Non-Discloser Agreement ) is never a bad thing to do as this gives your product/business a certain amount of protection and ensures your business details are kept confidential between you and who ever is interested in your idea.

Waste of time and effort.
If one of the "big boys" like your idea/concept they will just take it.Then tie you up with their lawyers fighting the case until you have no money left and are forced to sell your house to pay your own lawyers.

As for the OP no - one is going to buy into an unknown and unproven business that has no track record.

 

[businessfunding]

Depends in part by what you mean by 'an idea' - how evolved is is? iis it product based? do you have proof of concept etc etc

2 points on 'ideas'

1. There are literally millions of them out there

2. They are seldom new

The more you evolve it into a sellable product the more chance you have of interesting someone

 

[Ash-CBO]

Its a difficult one - as many have mentioned, competing with the 'big boys' is always a difficult prospect, although a good idea should not simply be shunned because at this stage it is only that.

Im sure you have, but I think research into this area is essential, as there are too many speculative ideas with no real clout about them out there.

Someone mentioned Government funding as an option to assist in the financing of the business- the start-up loans scheme also provide you with a mentor after approving a loan which I think would be useful in this situation and they can help you develop this idea.

 

[SkoshBusiness]

I agree with the advice given above but it would be interesting to know a little more about your idea. If it is completely new then you could file for a patent but this is a long-winded process.

Alternatively, speak to family and friends to help financially and do some work/research into how viable and profitable it could be as a business.

As mentioned in a previous post as soon as a big company gets wind of your idea they can/will steal it. The problem you'd have is that they already have the staff, brand, laywers, marketing, sales teams and the vehicle to get it to market with stacks of cash to back it.

Good luck with it either way.